January 19, 2010

What Happens When A Debt Collector Does Not Respond To A Validation Letter?

In a previous article, we covered the benefits of
using
A DEBT VALIDATION LETTER when you receive a notification
from a debt collector. By law the collector has to notify you
that you are entitled to ask for a validation of the debt
within 5 days of contacting you that you owe the money.

As a point of note, let me remind you that the
debt collector has 30 days to respond to the debt validation.
What the response should contain is proof that you actually
owe the debt. As well as proof that they have the legal
right to collect the debt, remember they are
collectors, and you never borrowed anything from them.
They must also proove that they are licensed to collect debts
in your state. Also, they need to provide the original contract
you signed with the original creditor, or at
least credit card receipts that you signed.

If the collector completely fails to respond to the
validation letter, again they have 30 days to do so, then
legally they must cease collection efforts, and remove
negative items placed by them on your credit report.
If they have not responded, you need to send them a certifi9ed
letter stating that they have failed to respond and to cease
all collection efforts and remove any negative items they have
placed on your credit report, or supply you with a letter
stating that the negative items were placed on your report
in error. That way, you can have the items removed by contacting
the credit bureaus.

If they ignore you, you can sue them in small
claims court for violations of the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act.

Sometimes, after you have sent a validation
request,the collector will send you back a "verification
of the debt". This is not a validation. In a verification
the creditor will simply send you the name and address of
the original creditor along with the amount owed. This is not
what you want from them. You are entitles to a validation if that
is what you requested.

As a final note, the collector cannot contact
you to collect the debt while the validation is in the 30 day
period, so, be sure to monitor any calls you receive and log them.
Since collection contact during this period is another violation
of the FDCPA.

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We do not ever sell or share your information. Also, if you
need more information on collection and creditor lawsuits
then please visit:
Creditor Lawsuit Resources. Please note that we are not attorneys,
and this article is not intended to be legal advice, but rather
legal information.

Written By:
Steven Ciantro
Member National Association Of Certified Credit Counselors
American Debt Enders
help@americandebtenders.com
877-766-2465

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